Wicked Problems, Workable Solutions: Lessons from a Public Life

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

Dan Yankelovich, chairman and co-founder of Public Agenda published the book, Wicked Problems, Workable Solutions: Lessons from a Public Life in December 2014. This 202-page book presents a strategy to nurture the greater public wisdom necessary for modern society to confront its most wicked problems.

From Dan’s blog post at Public Agenda

A whole mess of wicked problems such as stagnant incomes, blocked social mobility, political polarization and a dysfunctional educational system threaten to overwhelm us. (The definition of a Wicked Problem is that conventional solutions, by themselves, can’t solve it.)

Behind the mess and confusion lurks a serious philosophical issue. Unless we confront it directly the public will not be able to exercise its obligation to make our democracy function successfully. Our philosophical challenge is to recognize that our democracy can only succeed in the context of genuine community where individuals and institutions seek the common good as well as their own interests.

The philosophical issue, at its core, is an ethical one. To succeed, democratic societies have to achieve a reasonably high threshold of ethical caring for one another. The top one percent has to adopt a stewardship ethic toward the other 99%. Banks and hedge funds have to care for the larger society as well as their own interests. Big companies can’t hide behind the treacherous doctrine of ‘shareholder value’ to rationalize their lack of concern for their workers and the community. Professors at research universities have to care for their students and communities as well as for their own research.

Read more of Dan’s blog post on Public Agenda: www.publicagenda.org/blogs/taking-a-blog-pause.

Wicked Problems is available for purchase at Target, Amazon, Google Play and on iTunes.

About Public Agenda
Public Agenda is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that helps diverse leaders and citizens navigate divisive, complex issues and work together to find solutions. Through nonpartisan research and public engagement, we provide the insights, tools and support people need to build common ground and arrive at solutions that work for them. In doing so, we are proving that it is possible to make progress on critical issues regardless of our differences. In all of our work, we seek to help build a democracy in which problem solving triumphs over gridlock and inertia, and where public policy reflects the thoughtful input and values of the nation’s citizens.

Follow on Twitter @PublicAgenda.

Resource Link: www.amazon.com/Wicked-Problems-Workable-Solutions-Lessons

What Might Childhood Look Like in the Future? (IF Discussion Guide)

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

In 2014, The Interactivity Foundation published the 40-page Discussion Guide, What Might Childhood Look Like in the Future? A Discussion Guide For Exploring Possibilities for Public Policy, which came from discussions between 2011 and 2012, that were then reviewed, tested and revised, before publishing.

From IF..

Whitney Houston sings in The Greatest Love of All (1985) that “the children are our future”. What, though, is the future of childhood? What does it mean, in our society, to be a child- or to have a childhood? And what might it mean in the future? Looking back, it may be easy to presume that children have always enjoyed the protected status that they officially seem to have within modern American society. But both the historical and modern realities of childhood greatly complicate this picture and many of our associated ideals.

Perhaps we need to rethink what childhood might look like in the 21st century. This project will ask some difficult questions and consider multiple. alternative answers.

For example:

How might we address broader social issues directly affecting childhood such as homelessness, abuse, neglect, crime, violence- whether on the streets or in their homes and at the hand of a parent or caregiver?
How do we best raise children who will be competent enough to navigate the complexities of our modern world? What traits will they need?
Are there ways to build and develop our supporting villages that will both more supportive and less threatening to parents and caregivers?
What other issues might affect children growing up 20, 30, or 40 years from now?

The PDF version of this report is available for download here.

About the Interactivity Foundation
The Interactivity Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to enhance the process and expand the scope of our public discussions through facilitated small-group discussion of multiple and contrasting possibilities. The Foundation does not engage in political advocacy for itself, any other organization or group, or on behalf of any of the policy possibilities described in its discussion guidebooks. For more information, see the Foundation’s website at www.interactivityfoundation.org.

Follow on Twitter: @IFTalks.

Resource Link: www.interactivityfoundation.org/discussions/the-future-of-childhood

Human Impact on Climate Change: Opportunities & Challenges (IF Discussion Guide)

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

Human Impact on Climate Change: Opportunities & Challenges, a discussion guidebook from the Interactivity Foundation (IF), serves as a discussion guide designed to use non-ideological language that helps participants to separate potential policy directions from partisan agendas and arguments over science, and to explore possibilities for how they or their communities might respond.

Human Impact on Climate Change- Opportunities & Challenges The easy-to-use, 40-page guide frames the possibilities that discussion participants can consider in two categories. The first, “Setting the Stage,” focuses on immediately impact awareness and action, and the second, “Meeting the Continuing Climate Challenge,” is focused on the more complicated, long-term approaches needed to impact infrastructure and natural systems.

Here is how the report has framed six different possibilities for participants to discuss:

Possibilities for Setting the Stage

A. Promote Climate Awareness – Improve understanding of climate impact, climate science, and possible approaches.
B. Change Consumer Habits – Focus on human consumption as a source of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
C. Go for Results – Identify efficient and low-cost solutions that are available for short-term action.

Possibilities for Meeting the Continuing Climate Challenge

D. Heal the Planet – Plan and implement long-range recovery and rehabilitation of ecosystems.
E. Deal With a Different World – Adapt to changed conditions and plan for climate emergencies.
F. Focus on the Developing World – Assist developing nations in reducing climate impact activities and adopting clean technologies.

The guide expounds on all six of these frames as starting points for in-depth conversation and deliberation, and offers example policy suggestions grounded in all six frames for participants to explore. It also includes a great list of additional resources to help facilitate further conversations at the end.

To help these conversations be more inclusive and accessible, IF has made a PDF of the report available in both English and Spanish, and you can also view it online. You can go directly to the report summary page by clicking here, and there is even a Facebook discussion group based on the report.

Resource Link: www.interactivityfoundation.org/discussions/human-impacts-on-climate

Everyone Counts: Could Participatory Budgeting Change Democracy?

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Keiva Hummel

Written by Josh Lerner, Executive Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP), Everyone Counts was commissioned by the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State to celebrate the Participatory Budgeting Project winning the inaugural Brown Democracy Medal in April 2014.

According to John Gastil, Director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, “The Participatory Budgeting Project exemplifies the essential features the award committee was looking for in its inaugural recipient. Political and economic inequality is part of the American national discussion, and participatory budgeting helps empower marginalized groups that do not normally take part in a process that is so critical for democratic life.”

In Everyone Counts, Josh Lerner provides a concise history of the organization’s origins and its vision, highlighting its real-world successes in fostering grassroots budgeting campaigns in such cities as New York, Boston, and Chicago.

As more and more communities turn to participatory budgeting as a means of engaging citizens, prioritizing civic projects, and allocating local, state, and federal funding, this cogent volume offers guidance and inspiration to others who want to transform democracy in the United States and elsewhere.

PBP is an innovative not-for-profit organization that promotes “participatory budgeting,” an inclusive process that empowers community members to make informed decisions about public spending.

About the Participatory Budgeting Project
The Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) is a non-profit organization that helps communities decide how to spend public money, primarily in the US and Canada. Their mission is to empower community members to make informed, democratic, and fair decisions about public spending and revenue. They pursue this goal by working with governments and organizations to develop participatory budgeting processes, in which local people directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Follow on Twitter @PBProject and @joshalerner.

Everyone Counts is 56-pages and available through Cornell University Press, Amazon/Kindle, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble/Nook, Google Play and Kobo.

Resource Link: www.amazon.com/dp/B00OVI7IYS

Working Effectively with Public Engagement Consultants: Tips for Local Officials (ILG Report)

Posted on August 24, 2014 by NCDD Community

In planning and implementing public engagement activities, local officials often contract with external consultants for services. These may be consultants who design and lead activities devoted solely to public engagement, such as a series of community conversations contributing to the development of a local agency budget. Or they may be consultants who carry out tasks well beyond public engagement alone, such as assisting in the overall development of a general plan update. This tip sheet from the Institute For Local Government offers several recommendations to help guide local officials in the best use of public engagement consultants.

from the guide’s Introduction…

Few resources exist to help guide local officials in the best use of public engagement consultants. Therefore, the Institute for Local Government, drawing on the experiences of both local officials and consultants, has compiled the following set of recommendations.

Of course before hiring any individual or firm, it is important to ask for references and to check with your colleagues in other counties or cities about their experiences with the consultant. Requested competencies and deliverables should be spelled out clearly in an RFQ or RFP. Check with your local agency attorney about questions relating to any specific hiring process.

About the Institute for Local Government
The Institute for Local Government is the nonprofit research and education affiliate of the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities. The Institute’s Public Engagement Program promotes and supports effective and inclusive public engagement in California’s cities and counties and helps local officials make good decisions about involving the public in local decision making. The program offerings include: how-to guides and tip sheets (available for downloading), local stories from throughout the state, best practices, video presentations and more.

Resource Link: www.ca-ilg.org/public-engagement-tips-local-officials

This resource was submitted by Anna Hamilton, a Fellow at the Institute For Local Government, via the Add-a-Resource form.

Testing the Waters: California’s Local Officials Experiment with New Ways to Engage the Public (ILG Report)

Posted on August 24, 2014 by NCDD Community

This report—the first of two—presents the perspective of California’s public officials. It concludes with practical recommendations emerging from this study and its companion study on civic leaders’ perspectives for how to encourage productive relationships between local officials and the public and expand opportunities for broad sections of the public to meaningfully participate in local decision making.

from the guide’s Description…

What is the state of public participation in local government decision making in California? What opportunities do Californians have to engage with public issues?

Where, other than at the ballot box, do elected officials hear from the residents they represent? What stands in the way of more productive dialogues between local officials—both elected and non-elected—and the residents they serve.

What is the state of public participation in local government decision making in California? What opportunities do Californians have to engage with public issues? Where, other than at the ballot box, do elected officials hear from the residents they represent? What stands in the way of more productive dialogues between local officials—both elected and non-elected—and the residents they serve?

To provide some answers to these questions, the Institute for Local Government and the Davenport Institute partnered with the research team at Public Agenda on a research study that sought the opinions of more than 900 local officials and 500 leaders of civic and community-based organizations in California. We asked these local officials and civic leaders about their efforts to engage the public in decision making, their experiences with traditional public hearings at council and commission meetings and their interests and attitudes toward newer forms of public engagement—especially methods that seek to give broad cross sections of the public the opportunity to deliberate over local issues and weigh the trade-offs of policy decisions that affect their lives.

Results from our parallel study with leaders of California’s civic and community-based organizations are detailed in a separate report, “Beyond Business as Usual: Leaders of California’s Civic Organizations Seek New Ways to Engage the Public in Local Governance.”

Resource Link: www.ca-ilg.org/document/testing-waters-californias-local-officials-experiment-new-ways-engage-public

This resource was submitted by Anna Hamilton, a Fellow at the Institute For Local Government, via the Add-a-Resource form.

Legal Issues Associated With Social Media (ILG Report)

Posted on August 24, 2014 by NCDD Community

What legal issues do public agencies face relating to their use of social media? This paper chronicles a number of them. It also offers “dos and don’ts” advice for reaping the benefits of social media while minimizing the pitfalls. A version of this paper was delivered to the May 2010 City Attorneys Spring Conference.

from the guide’s Introduction..

Social media has transformed communication through Internet technologies that allow users to communicate directly with each other. A key consequence of this is that traditional institutions (for example, the mainstream media, corporations and public agencies) no longer play a controlling role in information flows.

This shift in the balance of power is illustrated by such phenomena as the viral “United Breaks Guitars” video on YouTube. Millions viewed with the airline traveler’s consumer complaint delivered by song. The post resonated with every consumer that identified with the frustration of not having companies take responsibility for their actions.

Another implication of social media is that conversations are occurring in different places and among different people. No longer is the concept of a “community” something that is defined by location.

About the Institute for Local Government

The Institute for Local Government is the nonprofit research and education affiliate of the California State Association of Counties and the League of California Cities. The Institute’s Public Engagement Program promotes and supports effective and inclusive public engagement in California’s cities and counties and helps local officials make good decisions about involving the public in local decision making. The program offerings include: how-to guides and tip sheets (available for downloading), local stories from throughout the state, best practices, video presentations and more.

Resource Link: www.ca-ilg.org/SocialMediaLegalIssues

This resource was submitted by Anna Hamilton, a Fellow at the Institute For Local Government, via the Add-a-Resource form.

Workshop Findings – Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table: Infrastructure Needs in a Democracy

Posted on August 24, 2014 by NCDD Community

This report describes the findings of the May 22, 2014 workshop “Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table: Infrastructure Needs in a Democracy,” hosted by Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue in partnership with SFU Public Square. The featured speaker was Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer, Executive Director of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, founder of AmericaSpeaks, and one of the foremost citizen engagement practitioners in North America. The report summarizes participant evaluations of the citizen engagement infrastructure in British Columbia, Canada, as well as participants’ ideas to strengthen the influence of citizen voices on policy decisions.

Executive Summary

Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table brought together 67 prominent citizen engagement practitioners from British Columbia to evaluate the province’s citizen engagement infrastructure and explore ways to strengthen the influence of citizen voices on policy decisions at all levels of government in the region.

Featured guest Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer presented seven types of infrastructure required to support citizen engagement in a democracy. Participants then worked collaboratively to evaluate British Columbia’s citizen engagement infrastructure in the focus areas of neighbourhood planning, transportation, and mental health & addictions. Common infrastructure assets identified among the three focus areas included: safe, accessible physical spaces; access to technology; and a network of skilled facilitators. Repeated infrastructure gaps identified among the three focus areas included: a trustworthy, fact-based media; and robust civic education.

Within each focus area, participants voted on the degree to which citizen engagement currently impacts policy development. Average results ranged from “a little” to “moderate,” with the focus area of neighbourhood planning registering the highest perceived impact. Participants then nominated and voted upon the top barriers that prevent the expanded use of citizen engagement at the municipal level in British Columbia. The top three choices related to the voluntary decisions of stakeholders to enter into a citizen engagement process. These were: low political will; commitment by all; and engagement is unappealing.

In the final activity of the workshop, participants each wrote down one key government action that could strengthen the influence of citizen engagement on policy decisions in their focus area. The five most common themes were:

1. Allocate resources and infrastructure
2. Codify engagement responsibilities
3. Make outcomes transparent
4. Leverage third party implementation or monitoring
5. Pre-disclose how citizen input will be used

Two overall themes emerged from the workshop findings. First, the expansion of citizen engagement at all levels of government in British Columbia is dependent on elected representatives and citizens making stronger commitments to collaborative decision-making. Second, participants suggested that many jurisdictions in British Columbia appear to lack a culture of engagement that provides the transparency, predictability, and sophistication required for governments and citizens to engage effectively and with confidence. These two themes could be related; many elected representatives and citizens may treat citizen engagement with skepticism due to negative past experiences with engagement processes that do not reflect modern best practices.

Suggested next steps include working with governments to initiate pilot projects that increase familiarity with modern citizen engagement practices. Over time, such pilot projects could build stakeholder capacity to implement and participate in citizen engagement processes and create confidence that these can be fair and lead to better outcomes. Research is also required to collect the perspectives of elected representatives and citizens, both of which would provide further insights into the status of citizen engagement at all levels of government in British Columbia.

Funding for the Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table workshop was provided through the SFU Centre for Dialogue’s Bruce and Lis Welch Community Dialogue, a yearly event designed to encourage transformative social change through dialogue. For more information, contact Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue at dial@sfu.ca, or visit www.sfu.ca/dialogue.

Resource Link: www.sfu.ca/dialogue/citizen-voices

This resource was submitted by Robin Prest from Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Dialogue via the Add-a-Resource form.

Connections 2013: Citizens in Democratic Politics

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Courtney Breese

Connections is a yearly periodical published by the Kettering Foundation featuring articles devoted to a theme. Each issue of the foundation’s annual newsletter focuses on a particular area of Kettering’s research and contains articles, feature stories, and book reviews relevant to the foundation’s work. Editing responsibilities for Connections rotate among Kettering program staff.

The 2013 edition focuses on”citizens and the importance of the choices they make in politics.” Below is an excerpt from the introduction…

The foundation’s annual research review in 2013 includes looking at citizens and the importance of the choices they make in politics. In many ways, politics is about choice—not only among policies and candidates in elections, but also among the many actions to address and solve problems.

Two difficulties stand out: Too often, people are on the sidelines of the political system. They don’t make any choices, or they choose by not choosing at all. Furthermore, simply being involved won’t result in good choices unless people make informed and wise decisions about what they should do. Kettering research is both about what motivates people to become involved and about what helps them make sound decisions.

- David Mathews, President of the Kettering Foundation

…along with the contents of the newsletter…

Contents of the 2013 Edition

Getting Off the Sidelines and Making Good Choices
David Mathews

Deliberative Opportunities in Everyday Political Talk
Amy Lee and Erika Mason-Imbody

Public Deliberation from the Jury Room to Initiative Elections
John Gastil

Issue Guides and Issue Frameworks
Brad Rourke

Learning Exchanges with Centers for Public Life
Alice Diebel and Randall Nielsen

A Public Voice: A Long-Running Experiment Bears Promising Fruit
David Holwerk

Reinventing Hampton
Connie Crockett

Learning Exchanges with Professional Organizations
Phillip D. Lurie

Public Learning in Public Schools: How Networks of Teachers and Public Partners Can Support Civic Learning
Libby Kingseed and Stacie Molnar-Main

Active Citizenry in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia: A Case of Citywide Deliberation, Collective Acting, and Civic Capacity Building
Germán Ruiz and Ileana Marin

Online Deliberative Decision Making
Amy Lee

Folk Politics
Randall Nielsen

This edition of their annual newsletter is currently available as both a free download and in print (also free with shipping) from the Kettering Foundation website.

Resource Link: http://kettering.org/periodicals/connections-2013-citizens-in-democratic-politics/

Playing for the Public Good: The Arts in Planning and Government

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Sandy Heierbacher

Arts and culture play a crucial role in increasing, diversifying, and sustaining public participation, navigating contentious issues, and fostering productive public dialogue and decision making. In 2013, Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, published Playing for the Public Good: The Arts in Planning and Government – a trend paper that highlights a wide range of arts and culture-based projects or programs that broaden participation and deepen meaning beyond typical planning processes and/or governmental systems and structures.

When governmental and civic entities employ the arts to engage people in public processes, they often find new and effective ways to motivate participation, make decisions, and solve problems. In communities of all sizes, coast-to-coast, the arts are enhancing grassroots community planning activities and initiatives in participatory democracy. Artists and their creative practices are enlivening the workings of civic committees, town hall meetings, and action plans, at the same time they are engaging community members in education, advocacy, and policy efforts related to local and regional issues vital to the public well-being.

The paper, by Jon Catherwood-Ginn and Robert Leonard at Virginia Tech University, offers a brief history of and context for the roles of arts and culture in public planning and governmental processes and characterizes the various drivers, intents and outcomes, and orientations in arts infused planning and civic processes in these projects. While investing in the arts has proven effective in producing jobs and capital, economic prosperity is but one benefit of activating the arts in community.

Resource Link: http://impact.animatingdemocracy.org/sites/default/files/BLeonard%26JC-G%20TrendPaper.pdf

Civic Studies

An intellectual community of researchers and practitioners dedicated to building the emerging field of civic studies

Category Archives: public engagement

Wicked Problems, Workable Solutions: Lessons from a Public Life

What Might Childhood Look Like in the Future? (IF Discussion Guide)

Human Impact on Climate Change: Opportunities & Challenges (IF Discussion Guide)

Everyone Counts: Could Participatory Budgeting Change Democracy?

Working Effectively with Public Engagement Consultants: Tips for Local Officials (ILG Report)

Testing the Waters: California’s Local Officials Experiment with New Ways to Engage the Public (ILG Report)

Workshop Findings – Bringing Citizen Voices to the Table: Infrastructure Needs in a Democracy

Connections 2013: Citizens in Democratic Politics

Playing for the Public Good: The Arts in Planning and Government